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Federal Funding for FY26 and Funding Forecast for FY27
from Better Schools Summer 2025
by CCOSA
It can be challenging to stay abreast of the federal funding landscape. Here’s what we know.
By Kathy Dunn, CCOSA Director of Professional Learning, State and Federal Programs
Federal funds released after advocacy efforts by CCOSA and education leaders nationwide
As the President of the National Association of State Executives and the Executive Director of CCOSA/OASA, Dr. Pam Deering has worked with leaders across the nation to advocate for FY26 federal education funding to be released. In July, CCOSA’s Oklahoma delegation of educators joined a group of over 200 school superintendents from across the nation to visit Capitol Hill advocating for the release of the impounded funds. Oklahoma superintendents created a template for school districts to visually display the loss of each Title program and the resulting cuts in tutoring programs, reading and math specialists, instructional coaches, mental health professionals, and school security personnel.
An article in the Washington Post explained, “More than 200 superintendents went to senators’ offices on Capitol Hill this month to plead their case, and some lawmakers worked to pressure the administration to release the funds…. Nearly three-quarters of superintendents who responded to a mid-July survey by AASA, the School Superintendents Association, said they would have to eliminate academic services for students if the rest of the federal funding were not restored.”
2025 Federal Allocation Timeline
March 14 Congress passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) with level funding across all federal programs, with slight increases in SPED and Title I.
March 14 to June 30 Schools expected to receive Preliminary Grant Award Notifications (GANS), with Final GANs arriving by July 1 notifying schools of Title Funds allocations based on the CR, as had happened year after year.
May The OSDE Office of Title Services received Preliminary GANs for Title IA and Title IVA.
June 30 The U.S. Department of Education released a memo stating that Final GANs would be issued for Title IA & D and Title V but 4 other Titles would be impounded for further review, including Title IV (for which the preliminary GAN had already been received) to determine if funds were spent in accordance with the President's priorities and the Department’s statutory responsibilities.
July 18 The White House announced that $1.3 billion in 21st Century grant programs would be released if states provided new assurances on how the funds would be spent.
July 21 SDE announced that carryover will be accessible for Titles I, II, III, IV, and V.
July 25 Dr. Pam Deering received word while in Washington, D.C., leading an ASE meeting that President Trump had released the remaining federal funds for FY26.
What can we learn from the impoundment of federal education funds in 2025?
■ Business as usual can become quite unusual.
■ Individual advocacy matters.
■ Our collective advocacy as members of an association of dedicated educators matters.
■ Losing federal funding would be devastating to our unwavering commitment to accelerate learning, close the achievement gap, and establish in our schools every component of highly effective schools, which includes:
An effective teacher in every classroom
Training in evidence-based instructional strategies
Strong school leaders highly skilled in instructional support, fiscal responsibility, building relationships with students, parents, staff, and community, and facility management
■ The release of federal funds was eventually swayed by ten Republican Senators who signed on to a letter requesting the release of the federal funds, signaling a lack of sufficient votes to pass a rescission of the funds.
■ Our votes matter, and our voices matter. The single best way to make our voices heard is for every educator to vote for pro-education candidates in every election.
■ Our community members’ votes matter, and we should help our community members understand education issues and the impact of proposed changes to any funding source, federal or otherwise.
What happens next?
■ With FY26 federal allocations on the way to the nation’s school districts, attention must turn to budget proposals for FY27. As is often the case, the nation is facing a government shutdown at the end of September if a Federal Budget or a Continuing Resolution is not passed before that time. President Trump’s proposed budget for FY27 is in the table below.
■ The four pink rows display the programs whose funds were impounded for a time this spring and were recently released for FY26.
The proposed budget for FY27 shows $0.00 for the programs highlighted in yellow, designating which programs the president proposes to cut.
The beginning stages of developing the FY27 budget show a positive starting point in the Senate Appropriations Committee. According to Tara Thomas, Senior Government Affairs Manager for AASA, the “Senate Appropriations Committee passed its Fiscal Year 2026 [Oklahoma FY27] Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (LHHS) bill with bipartisan support. The bill provides small increases for Title I, IDEA, and REAP and level funds the most other K12 programs.”
Thomas emphasizes that this is only the first step in a very long appropriations process.
U.S. Department of Education Budget Table
U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee Education Budget Proposal for FY27
Programs With Increases
Title IA: + $50 million increase
IDEA, Part B: + $50 million increase
REAP: + $5 million increase
Programs With Level Funding
Impact Aid
Title IC
Title IIA
Title III
Title IVA
Programs With Decreases
School Safety National Activities: minus $26 million
Full-Service Community Schools: minus $15 million
Education, Innovation and Research: minus $24 million
Reading to Learn TV: minus $2 million
Arts in Education: minus $5.5 million
U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee Education Budget Proposal for FY27
Tara Thomas continues, “The House Appropriations Committee had planned to take up its LHHS bill in late July but postponed until after August recess. The only insight into the House proposal is their ‘interim’ allocation for the entire bill – which represents about a $14 billion cut when compared to FY25. We won’t know the extent of how these cuts will impact education until the full bill is released, but this signals significant differences between the House and Senate versions. There remains widespread concern about a government shutdown in late September should Congress be unable to pass a Continuing Resolution and provide both chambers more time to negotiate spending for FY26.”
What should districts be doing?
■ In the next few weeks, watch for the release of allocations for the Title programs, including the performance period. If the performance period is July 1 through June 30, we can amend budgets and adjust accounting processes to claim those early FY26 salaries, subscriptions, and other projects that are traditionally funded through these federal funds.
■ Watch for the new assurances added by the Trump administration for the use of the federal funds.
■ Begin to consider contingency plans in the event projects funded under this title are not funded in the future.
■ Consider “Supplement Not Supplant” guidance. SNS is determined comparing one year to the next year, but not within a single fiscal year. It is not a violation of SNS if a portion of a project or salary is paid with state or local funds and the rest is paid with federal funds within one fiscal year if that funding strategy is needed for your circumstance.
■ Be strategic about carryover for future funding, keeping in mind the 15% limitation of carryover in Title I.
■ Join the advocacy effort by becoming actively involved in CCOSA to stay current on federal funding issues and to lend your voice to the advocacy activities of the association.
■ Use every federal dollar wisely to provide quality schools with effective Tier I instruction and meaningful interventions in Tier II and Tier III.
■ Celebrate every accomplishment in your school and your community. Promote our public schools – they are the heart of the community! ■
